Pretty Cravings

Shore Leave

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 23:29:17 GMT

Anyone going to Shore Leave in Lancaster PA? goddess47 and I are headed that way tomorrow for a long weekend.

Anyway, if you're going, I won't be hard to spot since my hair is a lovely Pegasus teal blue. Come say hi.

Be aware there could be a lot of blue-haired folk there, it is a sci-fi convention after all.

My grown kids are kindly not saying, " You're weird, Mom, but there's a definite pause before they say, "Have a good time." 😊ᐰ

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Leave No Soul Behind K/S

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 23:06:41 GMT

A Kirk/Spock rec for a story posted back in 2011.

I'm rereading it and I wanted to share (plus the trailer is all kinds of awesome)

Story:
Leave No Soul Behind

Trailer:

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I want to be the water that bathes you

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 17:25:24 GMT

Passion for a Thursday afternoon

I'm just gonna say, I want this to be Sentinel fic. It's not, but I can still want it to be, right?

From Letters of Note:

I want to kiss you. I want our dream worlds to be one. I would like to see from your eyes, hear from your ears, feel with your skin, and kiss with your mouth. In order to see you from below I would like to be the shadow that is born from the soles of your feet and that lengthens along the ground upon which you walk. I want to be the water that bathes you, the light that gives you form, I wish that my substance were your substance, that your voice should come out of my throat so as to caress me from inside.

Frida Kahlo
Letter to Josep Bartolí
20th October 1946

_{—Translation by Hayden Herrera for Doyle New York}

And, just for fun here's a link to a letter to Gene Roddenberry concerning STAR TREK PLANET VULCAN PROPER NAMES

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Misadventures in writing.

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 14:22:41 GMT

Imagine my surprise when I went to edit my Unconventional courtship story to find the first two paragraphs missing.

Only two, so not hard to rewrite--but an odd thing to happen. I can only guess that I must have accidentally hit the backspace key and deleted it without realizing, or the three times we lost power this past week screwed something up. Maybe a combo of both.

*cracks knuckles* Now to see if anything else is missing. This writing stuff is hard enough, even when everything goes exactly right.

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Coffee with a side of bloodstains.

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:00:27 GMT

I went for a walk to my local Tim Hortons for my usual dark roast, black coffee.

Tim Hortons shares space with Speedway. Your typical gas station store for beer, soda, lottery tickets, and other sundry things, but mostly beer and lottery tickets.

That area is entirely closed off with yellow police tape.

I asked the girl at the counter, "What happened?"

"There was a stabbing." Then, with a John Sheppard nonchalance as if this happened every day, "No one got hurt."

THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN EVERY DAY

It's unlikely I'll ever find out what happened. But... the subject line would make a great title.

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Summer days

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:36:48 GMT

I love these long summer days. I do wish I could stay awake a little later at night. My body could keep moving but my head crashes. And, there's only so much coffee even I can drink.

I have missed the last twenty minutes of a movie that started at nine p.m. more times than I can count* and those times I made myself stay awake, I had no memory of how it ended. Blank. Input not taken.

But I do love these long summer days.

*back in the old days when broadcast tv as it aired was the only option

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senses

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:37:13 GMT

I do love me some Sentinel/Guide fic. One of the things that I never see enough of is the way a Sentinel's senses come into play.

The smell of something sizzling in a pan

The warmth coming off a lightbulb

The pop of a jar being opened

Ice dropping into a glass

The taste of strawberries

The color of butterfly wings

Water cascading down over naked skin (I'm just going to dwell on that for a few minutes)

So, got any sensual experiences you'd care to add to this list?

(fanfic or otherwise)

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Stories your brain won't let go

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 11:55:56 GMT

I saw this question over on Fandom Secrets and thought it deserved a little attention.

Are there any ancient (probably deleted) fics that are still stuck in your brain?

Something you loved? Hated? An idea so intriguing it fired your imagination? A loved pairing? A pairing you never considered before? Something else?

I remember reading a few that stuck in my head and still do to this day. Several actually. But the one I'm sharing today is Egg by Jane St Claire

Under 300 words and took my imagination to the most interesting places.

How about you?

View Poll: Stories that stuck with you

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The Friday Five - books

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:22:09 GMT

questions from The Friday Five

1. Do you enjoy reading?

Great big YES on this one

2. What is the first book you remember reading?

I remember reading from The Book of Knowledge. I was fascinated by the stories based on myths and legends, and learned how to use the index pretty damn fast so I could pick out the sections I wanted to read. I was fairly young, and a lot of the words were over my head, but those stories kept me entertained for hours.

3. Who is your favourite author?

Unfair question. It shifts according to my reading appetite. I wish I could say That One! That's my favorite! But that's impossible.

4. What is your favourite book?

Another impossible-to-answer question. I have many many favorites. All well-loved. Picking just one is painful.

5. What is the last book you read and the first you'll read next?

I just finished Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer. As for next on my reading list, the world is wide open.

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Stargate News

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:47:21 GMT

Aw, crap. Gate World has announced they've axed the new Stargate series

Stargate fans can’t seem to catch a break

I really thought they had their act together this time.

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Five soulmates table

Fri, 29 May 2026 01:45:47 GMT

I finished!

Table #10 - Touch
01. first touch	02. touching your soulmate leaves fingerprints	03. touching your soulmate feels good	04. touching your soulmate lets them feel what you're feeling	05. you can only touch your soulmate

This challenge intrigued me from the start. I'm so glad I was able to finish it.

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Music

Tue, 26 May 2026 18:15:01 GMT

Music For Men Who Move in Silence (youtube link)

Why does this make me think of John Sheppard? OH.

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books

Sun, 24 May 2026 12:22:11 GMT

Author Suzanne Palmer wrote one of my favorite short series Bot 9 **

I'm also ridiculously fond of Fergus Ferguson, interstellar repo man and professional finder, and following his adventures in the four-book series The Finder Chronicles.

In the first place, having the guts to name your hero Fergus Ferguson brings me joy. Now, she's started a new series which looks equally interesting.

Ode to the Half-Broken

Two more days until I can get my hands on it. *checks clock*

Now, for a spoiler-free Project Hail Mary question.

Did you think reading the book before seeing it had an impact on how you viewed the movie?

Conversely, if you read the book after seeing the movie, what did you think?

** rumor is there'll be a fourth Bot 9 coming🎉🤞

edited to use Rocky icon

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Live Journal history

Sat, 23 May 2026 12:15:37 GMT

A lot of us migrated from LJ to Dreamwidth. When this article link popped up on The Rec Center it gave me a piece of history I hadn't known and I wanted to share.

The Linux of social media—How LiveJournal pioneered (then lost) blogging

Like many eventual household names in tech, LiveJournal started as a one-man project on a lark, driven by a techy teenager with too much time on his hands.

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Word usage by timeline

Thu, 21 May 2026 14:08:19 GMT

Well now, this is interesting.

Google Books Ngram Viewer

Word usage by timeline. Very handy for those period pieces.

I think I've finally got a handle on my Unconventional Romance plot. Of course, I still have to actually write it.

I haven't been posting much of late, but I am here. And only a little frazzled.

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Daily life

Sat, 09 May 2026 23:01:04 GMT

I'm back from a family visit in Maine. The eight-hour drive was a little wearing, but I happened to pick the best day weather-wise for returning.

I barely managed any internet time, just enough to check email, a quick pop by DW, and... guiltily, didn't get any words written for my FTH fic.

I signed up for unconventionalcourtship too. This is one of my favorite challenges. I'm a little bit desperate for ideas. I may just have to go to the library and start reading the romance summaries. Yes. I have done this before.

I like this one:

Responding to a crime scene, Corporal ~~Gardner Fairhurst~~ John Sheppard is shocked to find his rebellious teenage niece shoplifting. He’s been Sammy’s guardian ever since her ~~mother—his sister Dani~~ father- his brother Dave—went missing. But rather than press charges, bakery manager ~~Lia~~ Rodney offers Sammy a job.

The only drawback is - this wants to be a bigger story than I have time to write. But if anyone else wants to use this idea, Go For it!

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do you dream in color?

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 01:33:54 GMT

Do you remember your dreams?

Has a dream ever led to a story idea?

When I remember my dreams there is usually a splash of color somewhere in it but the entire dream might not be in color.

And yes. I've written more than one story based off a dream.

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APOD again

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 16:31:49 GMT

Mystic Mountain Monster

This one begs to be a prompt for something spooky or otherworldly (no pun intended) at the very least.

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three weeks for dw

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 23:47:26 GMT

How did I get here?

I started out on Livejournal. I stuck with it for ... longer than a lot did, despite its occasional fits.

The requirement to agree to the Russian terms of service was the last straw. Sort of.

I shared mod duties with a couple of communities on both DW and LJ - and I still post over at LJ occasionally.

There are warm fuzzies for what LJ used to be, but boy am I glad I imported it all to Dreamwidth when I had the chance.

Now I'm here. I have been for quite awhile, and growing more comfy with it every day.

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3 weeks for dreamwidth!

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:55:54 GMT

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
Come join in for fun, memes, activities, and more ♥

There's going to be a dent in my planned posting because I'll be visiting family in the middle of this. But I want to cheer everyone on!

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47 million galaxies

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:47:51 GMT

a map of the universe

I love APOD.

We are a tiny but unique piece of something grand.

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Sat, 11 Apr 2026 21:34:40 GMT

Seen at justcreate. I thought these were cool questions so I'm repeating them here.

What are you working on? What have you finished? What do you need encouragement on?

Are there any cool events or challenges happening that you want to hype?

What do you just want to talk about?

What have you been watching or reading?

Chores and other not-fun things count?

(I'm tossing my own answers in a comment to this)

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life

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:44:48 GMT

Finally, I'm on the upswing of a wicked head cold. Naps helped. Lots of naps.

I'm digging into my Fandom Trumps Hate fic. I hope my bidder likes it. In any event it's keeping my brain occupied and keeping me out of trouble.

I came across this article 7 tiny hacks that can improve your to do list and it reminded me that years ago I made a to do list every morning.

It's been awhile since I did that. Life's a little simpler now that I'm retired and my kids are grown with families of their own. I gotta say, it did help.

How 'bout you? Are To do lists a part of your day?

I'm going to admit right now, my list were far too ambitious and I did well if I could finish one half of the tasks.

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writing

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 18:53:09 GMT

I'm rereading a bunch of Terry Pratchett particularly the ones with Sam Vimes. I had to take note of this.
When Sam is asked about his views on writing...

Well it can't be a difficult job, given that all the words have probably been invented already, so there's savings in time right there, considering that you simply have to put them together in a different order.

Great advice, Sam, but what freaking order???!!!!

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Thu, 02 Apr 2026 22:48:35 GMT

It's that time of year again for unconventionalcourtship

This is one of my all time favorite challenges.

sign up info here

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